A WOMAN from Yate whose granddad and godfather died with Alzheimer’s has cycled the width of the country in their memory.

Ceri-Lyn Adams and her partner Chris Tong set off from St David’s in Pembrokeshire on June 20 and reached the most easterly point of the UK, Lowestoft in Suffolk, seven exhausting days and 450 miles later.

The pair, who challenged themselves to the gruelling ride to ‘do something outside of our comfort zones’, spent 41 hours in the saddle and ascended over 21,000ft.

Ceri, 28, was cycling in memory of her granddad, Thomas Idwal Adams, and her godfather, Trevor Austin, who both died with Alzheimer’s disease.

The policy manager at Bbiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) has so far raised £1,800 for Alzheimer’s Research UK.

Ceri said: “We really wanted to do something outside of our comfort zones for charity, so decided to cycle the width of the UK.

“We basically had to give up our lives for six months to train for it, but we wanted to go above and beyond the average fundraising challenge to ensure people parted with their hard-earned cash.”

She added: “My granddad passed away when I was only 14 and my godfather, Trevor, had early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

“Trevor was my dad’s very good friend and they worked together in the West Mercia police force. He was a very skilled first response driver, so it was such a shock when he received his diagnoses at such a young age.

“So far I’ve raised almost £1,800 for Alzheimer’s Research UK - a charity very close to my heart. They funded my PhD at Warwick University, so I wanted to raise money for them as a way of giving something back.”

Chris has also raised £1,100 for children’s charity Jemima’s Wish.

Ceri said the ride was by no means easy, having struggled to even walk up stairs after some days on her bike.

“Days two and three in Wales were particularly tough, as the route was just relentless hills,” she said. “That’s fine in itself, but you get very sore muscles. Days five and six were particularly difficult off the bike for me. I couldn’t even walk up stairs my muscles were that sore.

“Thoughts of Granddad and Trevor, and knowing I was raising money for Alzheimer’s Research UK, really spurred me on when the going got tough.”

Jodie Vaughan, community fundraising manager for Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “It’s amazing the great lengths our fundraisers go to when raising money for Alzheimer’s Research UK, and Ceri and Chris’ coast-to-coast cycle ride is no exception.

“There are hundreds of thousands of people across the UK living with dementia today, including over 3,300 people in South Gloucestershire. Despite this, funding for dementia research still lags far behind other serious diseases. We rely on public donations to fund our world-class research and it’s thanks to the commitment of people like Ceri that we’re able to continue our crucial work.”